AMHERST, N.Y. -- Maple Leafs defenceman Luke Schenn remembers the day during the 2005-06 season that a gangly kid showed up to play for the Kelowna Rockets.

The scrawny kid, defenceman Tyler Myers, has grown to be a 6-foot-8 rookie stud for the Buffalo Sabres and yesterday was told by general manager Darcy Regier he can move out of a downtown hotel and find a place to live. Myers won't be returned to the Rockets of the Western Hockey League.

"The first time he was called up, he lived with me when he was 15 and I was 16," Schenn said. "He was probably 6-foot-6 at the time, but he had troubles with the overall speed of the game. To see how far he has come, it's pretty amazing how he has put it all together."

Myers, teammate Derek Roy said, has been the Sabres' "solid rock." The Sabres' first pick, 12th overall in 2008 -- seven selections after the Leafs chose Schenn -- Myers has five points in nine games, is plus-8 and is averaging more than 20 minutes of ice time a game.

Myers' three-year rookie contract officially will start tonight when he skates on to the ice in his 10th NHL game.

"I don't want to stop after 10 games," Myers said. "I don't want to get too comfortable. Some guys do and they slow down a bit. I want to prove I can play in an 80-game season."

The more the 19-year-old Myers played for the Sabres, the more it became clear he was too good for major junior hockey.

"There was less debate as we got closer to nine games," Regier said. "We were very open-minded with him going into training camp. He has a lot of fun playing the game, and you don't always see that in young people."

It has become custom for burgeoning teenaged stars in the NHL to move in with older teammates, but Myers wasn't ready to start asking Sabres veterans if they had any spare bedrooms.

"I don't want to intrude on someone's house if they really don't want me," Myers said, drawing laughs. "I owe a lot to the guys in the room. They have really helped me out, on and off the ice."